Two Words

Two words. Two words changed my life. How? Well, my name is Hailey Brooks, and I want to share with you how two little words changed my life.

It all started 3 years ago, when I just started high school. I was friendly with everyone, and I was an average student. My best friend was Maddie and sometimes we would hang out with these three other girls, Mackenzie Knight, Cassie Morgan, and Brooklyn Peterson. They were really popular, but under the layer of fake sweetness, they were downright mean. One day, Maddie called and told me that she was going to go shopping with them and asked me if I could come. I had a gymnastics meet so I couldn’t go.

Soon, Maddie started hanging out with them, instead of me. They talked loudly about their plans, whispered things to each other, and made fun of people who didn’t wear make-up or wore “cool” clothes. My texts to Maddie were never responded and she never answered my calls. I decided that it was time to make new friends.

I met Kamri during the school sports day. In one of the activities we were supposed to run laps against each other’s teams. I tripped during the race but the girl behind me just helped me up, started to run, and introduced herself.

“I’m Kamri, and you must be Hailey. We have Science together.”

I laughed.

“Oh, I never knew that! I guess I have to start paying attention in class now!”

Kamri and I became very good friends after that. But a few months later, I was diagnosed with cancer. I did survive, but all my hair fell out because of the cancer. I was basically bald, and it would take a long time for it to grow out, which meant I had to go to school without hair. All my friends were very supportive, but one person that I didn’t tell was Maddie. I missed the friendly, funny, and caring Maddie. How would my old friend react?

On my first day back to school, almost everyone had brought me little gifts, cards, treats, balloons, and I was so happy, I didn’t even care about my hair. But when Maddie walked up to me, my heart began pounding. Would she be nice, or mean? Maddie looked at me in the eye and said,

“You don’t have hair.”

My hands trembled.

“Yeah, I know.” I whispered.

She stared at my bald scalp.

“I just wanted to let you know that you look really weird. You’re ugly.”

Those two last words she said crushed me. The power of those words hurt so much that I began to drink. I started to smoke. I planned to commit suicide. But Kamri knew something was wrong. So she followed me around and discovered what I had been doing. One sunny afternoon, while I was at home reading a book, Kamri came over. When I opened the door, she had a colorful scarf tied around her head. Not a single strand of her red hair was showing. Smiling, she untied the scarf, and I couldn’t believe it. Kamri, my best friend, had shaved off all her hair. She smiled and whispered,

Maddie’s awful words made my life terrible, but Kamri’s words saved my life. This shows how powerful words can be. So, before you say something that may harm someone, think about it. Once the words are spoken, they can never be taken back.